Racing at the 2014 BVI Spring
Regatta and Sailing Festival got underway today with the Nanny Cay Cup Round
Tortola Race. With light winds expected, the course was adjusted and the boats
did not race around Tortola, but instead took a 14-mile, easterly course. It
did not change the fleet's agenda as Tonnerre de Breskens 3 won overall and Highland Fling XII took
line honors.
"It shows how good we
are," joked Tonnerre
de Breskens 3, Ker 46 owner Peter Vroon. "We've
competed on this boat extensively and the yacht is exactly five years old
today. We started in Ft. Lauderdale and did Key West Week, then we did the RORC
Caribbean 600 in Antigua, then raced in St. Thomas and now here. And, it's all
been most enjoyable. We haven't got a light weather boat, but to win by
two-and-a-half minutes is commendable."
Racing is a family affair for
Peter Vroon. "I've got five family members here - two sons, a grandson,
and a son-in-law," he said. Sons Bart and Coco, grandson Carlo and
son-in-law Rinus were all part of the race crew as the yacht finished with a
time of 3 hours, 15 minutes, 23 seconds.
All four classes - racing,
cruising, bare boat and multihull - sailed the same course. Off the line,
yachts started in Sir Francis Drake Channel off Nanny Cay on a beat up to
Ginger Island, sailing down the outside in the Caribbean Sea for a broad reach
to the famous Dead Chest, finishing with a run back across the channel. The
breeze was at 8-10 knots at the start, picking up to 12 around the back side of
the course.
Jon Charlton's Red Stripe/Reba took
advantage of local knowledge to win the cruising class. The British Virgin
Islands crew onboard the C&C 41 CB class yacht finished fourth overall in
the fleet at 3:27:18 on corrected time:
"We are from here, so that
may give us a little bit of an advantage," said Charlton. "We might
have a better idea where we should go. The entire fleet went up the coast and
stayed on the north side of Drake's Channel. We were the only boat to go
straight across towards the islands, and we went right up along Peter, Salt,
Cooper and got lifts all the way. A huge advantage for us. We finished with a
lot of the boats in the racing class, so we are quite happy."
Irvine Laidlaw's RP52, Highland Fling XII led
the fleet across the line and finished with an elapsed time of 2:40.56, ending
second in the racing class on corrected time (3:19:04). Matt Brooks' vintage
S&S 52 yawl Dorade,
launched in 1930, finished third at 3:23:48.
"It was a great day,"
said Highland Fling XII
skipper Peter Holmberg. "The conditions were mild, but we had one boat
like us, Tonnerre, so we can gage ourselves against them. It's tricky when it
gets light - the challenges change from boat handling with big breeze, to
finding the wind and going to the right spots. The team did a good job and had
a good day. We have a new sail coming that we're anxious to see, and the team's
looking forward to the weekend."
The Jeanneau 44i Ka Wai Ola won the
bare boat class with a time of 4:30:05, followed by the Beneteau Cyclades 39 Pretty Girl (4:41:49)
and the Sunsail 515 Ferry
Tale / Mary Jewell (4:48:43).
For multihulls, Boss Lady II
(4:36:54), Moorings 4600, finished ahead of Mario's Leonardo (5:20:03), an Orana 44
cat, to win the class.
On Wednesday is the CIL Island
Invitational - a pursuit race to Pirates. Race start time is set for 10:00
local, and boat shuttle services will be available to transport guests to
Pirates Bight Bar on Norman Island for the festivities. Round-trip shuttle
tickets are available for $20. The BVI Spring Regatta runs Friday-Sunday, April
4-6.
For compete results and more
information on racing, party schedules and more, visit www.bvispringregatta.org.
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